The Day Judah Had To Hurl

My husband and I recently made a trip with friends to the Texas Hill Country for a weekend cabin camping trip, and as we’ve done a number of times, we decided to take the furr babies along for the ride. Having been with us on a number of road trips already, it was a bit of a shock when our boy kitty, Judah, got a tad car sick, and while (thankfully) it was over quickly with no long term collateral damage, I’d be remiss in sharing if I failed to recount their version of that fateful weekend trip for all of you…

The trip began un-eventually enough. First there was the typical flurry of activity: last minute packing, loading the car, and locking up, but soon we were on our way. Our caravan got no more than 100 miles down the road though, and someone called for a Starbucksrun (obviously, the pioneering spirit runs deep in this crowd), and after some jockeying around and a detour or two we finally located the nearest store en route and pulled over to grab a quick latte – or two.

We left the furr babies in the car since the weather was mild and we were in and out in minutes, and they migrated (as they usually do) to the floorboard of the driver’s side, and that is where we’ll pick up this new, furr babies’ tale:

Silent and nearly motionless for several hours, less than 30 minutes out from reaching our destination, Judah erupted – literally and figuratively – into action.

Latte: What’s a matter Juju?! Why are you making dat noise…?!

With no warning, Judah sprung from his quiet resting spot on the floor onto my lap, making retching noises that clued us all in immediately to what was likely to follow. Caught off guard and simultaneously trying to juggle two cats in my lap at the same time while recognizing that one of them was about to spew, I did what any mother would do – I panicked! I may have actually screamed involuntarily as I tried (unsuccessfully) to urge Judah back to the floor – and onto the (washable) rubber floor mat, but he was not having it! He remained there just long enough to crouch low and gather the strength to launch forth even more assertively – in my husband’s direction – who, all the while, was trying to navigate the road as this wide eyed scene unfolded in the seat beside him.

As he sprang frantically forward in a wide eyed panic, my cry of, “Oh no, buddy, do it down there!” fell upon deaf ears, and a frothy stream of cat saliva launched forth from his mouth like a sad, sonar, slobber rocket set with laser beam precision on an unavoidable trajectory towards my husband’s forearm.

It was a direct hit, of course, and only the miracle of a slow motion replay could explain how my husband’s reflexive flinch of the head allowed him to escape the additional collateral damage that seemed sure.

The next 25 minutes or so were tense; with me doing the best I could to mop up the offensive mess from Judah’s furry little face, and restore some semblance of calm to the scene. We were fortunate in that there were no further eruptions and we reached our destination in record time. As you might expect, upon our arrival we immediately disembarked the vehicle and whisked the furr babies off to our rustic cabin – to help restore their sense of stability – and so we could go hose down the car!

Latte: I never seed you hurl before, Juju. That was crazy!

Latte: Hey, you know what Juju? I think this is a big cabin box like that one we were in one time before…

Latte: Hey look Juju, there are two beds. I gonna bounce on dis bed! You go jump up on de other bed, and lets bounce a ho ho bunch!

Judah: (Pause) I don’t wanna bounce right now, Latte. I might have to hurl!

Latte: Really…? You don’t want to jump at all?

Latte: That is soooo sad!

Rest assured that Latte was soon over her sadness and Judah had no more problems with his tummy and they both did much exploring of the big cabin box and jumping on the beds over the rest of the trip. In fact, except for one brief moment of reflection as we prepared to load the vehicle for the drive home, you’d have thought neither of them could even recall the time one fluffy, red, little boy kitty earned his stripes – so to speak – with a real, road warrior, travel experience, that one day that Judah had to hurl.

Judah: Dare is our car, Latte. ‘Member how I got sick in dare, and how I had to hurl?

Latte: I ‘member Juju. It’s not my favorite…

In the car and all the way home, everything seemed as right as rain once more: Judah road in the floor near my feet as he often does – with no issues – and Latte, well, she preferred to sit watching the world go whizzing by from her normal vantage point of relative safety (and comfort) on my lap.

Latte: Momma we are going ‘stremely fast!

Just like how life goes at times in most families, life in the cat lane can be dramatic at times, but overall it’s just a whole lot of fun!

Thanks for joining us, and the furr babies, for yet another wild ride!

Paula Reyne 🙂

Welcome!

I'm an entrepreneur-wife-mother-turned-blogger who lives in Plano, TX with my husband and two fluffy baby cats.